Tag: regulatory update

Merchant mariner credentials, both national and STCW, that expire between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2020, are extended to 31 March 2021, the US Coast Guard announced. 

2020 is proving to be a crucial year in the development of technologies and initiatives relating to maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS). In what is seen as the point of departure for regulators, the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee is set to conclude an initial scoping exercise into the application of IMO regulations in the context of MASS.

AMSA announced it has received a large number of MLC-related complaints after its late-June marine notice on the maximum period of shipboard service for seafarers during COVID-19 pandemic. 

The UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issued a report that provides guidance on financial sanctions for those involved in areas that may be subject to UK financial sanctions restrictions, including the handling of goods.

Following the establishment of expectations for repatriation of seafarers, the RMI outlined the circumstances under which seafarers must be repatriated by shipowners or operators. It also contains the entitlements that must be accorded to seafarers pursuant to RMI Maritime Regulations (MI-108), §7.52.4.

From 1st October, amendments to MARPOL Annex I, II, V, VI and the NOx Technical Code will permit the use of electronic record books, to enable the accurate record keeping of movements of shipboard substances and materials that are considered hazardous to the environment.

Operators are reminded that the newly released Announcement, 2019 No.489 on the Regulations of the People Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships containing new Measures has replaced previous Announcement.

The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY2021 funding package for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, proposing $7.6 billion for USACE, about $1.7 billion more than the administration requested.

The Merchant Shipping Notice 11 of 2020, establishing a routeing system for the southwest Indian waters, enters into effect on 1st August 2020. The system comes in response to a number of collisions of fishing vessels in the busy sea route in the area. 

On 1st July 2020, Japan deposited its instruments of accession to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001, and the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007.